Solitary
by benee

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: First reaction - look at the depth! I've then noticed your title and I begin to realise this is an old prison and a big one too; that realisation make the image even more interesting. I'm not normally a fan of portrait orientations, you'll find very few in my portfolio, but what a good choice it was for this image. The monochrome conversion is very well done and I really pleased you have chosen to not give us deep shadows - being able to see detail in all of the scene is key to its success.

Critical stuff: Nothing really

Overall: A fine image, which has been well served by your editing choices.

Boston Building
by Digit3

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: I like this - I think it is the colouration that pulls me in and in that regard the doors are the stars of the show. I'm very much a fan of saturated reds in otherwise fairly subdued colourscapes and this one is no exception. I also like the writing - it adds a context that I would have been curious about. The walking figure is interesting - in one way she is almost irrelevant but try to imagine the picture without her and much of the interest would be gone; that's clever - the use of a small compositional element that doesn't dominate but is nonetheless essential to the image.

Critical stuff: Not too much, I wish you'd compensated for the lens distortion, though I appreciate that you might not have the software so I really mustn't hold that against you...... but I can't say the same for the non-vertical orientation of the doors - given they are the key compositional element, I feel that nothing less than truly vertical will do.

Overall: architecture with a human touch - the walking figure serving to remind us that the built environment is a lived environment. Very nice image.

carefree
by ursula

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: Sometimes I find myself commenting on something in this comment series which will appeal beyond 'just' a niche audience - this is one of those images. Ursula - please stay with me in this comment for it might sound a bit mean to begin with! When I first looked at this image it left me a little cold - I could appreciate its beauty but it seemed to offer nothing new; it felt a little conventional. I re-examined that feeling - why did it seem conventional? Well, this genre is so well served by your work that I have in some way been conditioned to see it as normal / conventional - I need to re-examine. Its a bit like reading really - we see the letters and the words but we don't examine the shape of the letters our brain skips that part, we perceive the shape of the word, translate it and moved on before we know it. I'm stopping now, metaphorically looking at each letter - not taking the word for granted. What do I see. I see patterns of blur and sharpness, chaos and organisation, light and shade and hundreds of mini-rainbows - the micro and the macro held in equal high regard - it really is special.

Critical stuff: Just as I've said above, our familiarity with this sort of work, especially from you, can build viewer complacency - It's an image that requires some time to soak in a little. I hope people are generous enough with their time to do it justice.

Overall: It's just another Ursula image... in the same way that a painting may be just another Monet water lily.

Waiting for a Cab
by tmorninglory96

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: I think this is one of those images that offer up a slice of life rather than trying to wow us with technicals or artistic vision - though of course the motion blur and the tone mapping do offer something by way of that. Interestingly the area I find my eye drawn to the most is the underside of the balcony above the man. I think the colours certainly add a lot of interest - I like how there is a red zone, a blue zone and a green zone.

Critical stuff: I think images like this should tell a bit of a story - I'm not sure this one does. Paradoxically instead of complementing the image the tone mapping / colouration becomes the star of the show - easily stealing the limelight from the actual content in the image.

Overall:Although this image is certainly competent and brings an artistic vision, I think this image is neither honestly enthralling or sympathetically edited and as such it misses the mark a little for me. I can however understand why you would like it.

Metropolitan Art
by tvsometime

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: I think this is a well seen image - well executed, I like the fact that everything is orthogonal and I wonder what lens to use, I presume you corrected it with Photoshop. Of course the distortions in the glass are the star of the show and they offer us an intriguing glimpse into this cityscape - the changes in colour are particularly compelling.

Critical stuff: Nothing really, I think you've done exactly the right thing by this image.

Overall: Well proportioned and well edited - you've extracted the most from this interesting scene.

Ivories over downtown
by Yo_Spiff

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: I think this would've done really well in the Deep DOF challenge, but it still works here.The way you've used the piano to mirror the cityscape works really well and the contrast in this monotone image is a perfect match for you subject and composition. The overall effect is very effective. Of course the winning element is the juxtaposition of the piano with the city. I did well with this image: . I think yours offers a similar effect, though yours is a much higher quality image.

Critical stuff: I wonder whether it might have been possible to boost the shadow detail in the reflected building furthest left in the image.

Overall: A really effective image that deserves to do well. I'll be looking to see what lens you used.

Pilgrimage
by Iraklis

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: A masterclass in the use of light and shadow - the interplay of the highlights and shadows is marvellous. This would be a good image without the figure, but with them - it is lifted to another level.

Critical stuff: I think this could have stood a tighter crop on the left allowing for you to offer a bigger, higher image at 720px, I think a little could've come of the top too if we were going that way - drawing the eye more to the most interesting elements in the frame.

Overall: An great scene, well executed.

I dont think we are in Kansas any more.
by pete0121

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: What an extraordinary scene - it looks like a film set or something; it really makes me want to know the context. I love the slightly high key nature and the way the image fades to depth - I don't even mind the border. I also like the way that you've had confidence in the muted colours. Most of all I like the figures - full of mystery.

Critical stuff: Nothing really - not understanding the context is a little frustrating, but that is my problem.

Overall: A most compelling image of a most extraordinary scene.

Red-Yellow-Blue
by silverscreen

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: Sometimes in the comment series I comment on an image that has wider than 'just' niche appeal - I think this image begins to stray into that area. What hits me about this image is its purity, so clean uncluttered. I like the way you haven't been tempted to ramp up the saturation on the red and yellow - I'm not sure I would've made nearly such a sensible editing choice; there is a lesson for me right there. The composition is fantastic - so well balanced.

Critical stuff: Nothing much but perhaps my heavy-handed editing might have been tempted to send the window panes to black just to pick up the contrast of this area.

Overall: Incredibly effective image - expertly executed.

Guided
by qui-bow

Comment:
OK, I'm going through the Free Study submissions, purposefully finding those images I think are shot with a less conventional eye - this is one of those images! Thanks for offering something that isn't just DPC friendly eye-candy (though of course there's nothing wrong with eye-candy). I'll be picking one of these images for my Mu (most underrated) award:

Positives: What an interesting image - full of story and a little mystery. I'm not sure of the context but the robe, the stone, the light communicates druids to me. I like the blur / motion too - I like the linear aberrations it causes. I think the yellow colouration, the light gives is excellent.

Critical stuff: I'm not too keen on the blue hue - desaturation of that channel with an increase in luminance to a higher key image feels like it might have been more effective but without trying that, how can I say.

Overall: A very effective image which clearly communicates a vision. I really like it.